Late Night Consoling

Early this morning, Eurogamer posted news based on what were claimed to be leaked internal Sony documents and artwork related to a sequel to last year's acclaimed God of War (PS2). The news article claimed that the followup title will be released in North America in February 2007, but the most interesting bit was that it is allegedly coming to PlayStation 2 rather than Sony's next-gen console as many would probably have expected. If true, that would certainly lend credence to the rumors that the PS3 may be missing its targeted release by a little bit. While there will no doubt be PS2 games released well into the PS3's life span, just as PS1 games were still released years after the PS2 hit shelves, it would seem odd to launch a game as high profile as God of War on anything but the company's most current system. Sony did not deny, refuse to comment, or confirm the story; rather, Eurogamer was threatened with "legal action" and the story was replaced with a short disclaimer.

The documents also included details regarding Gran Turismo 4 (PS2) and the upcoming PSP version of Killzone. Gran Turismo 4: Online Edition (PS2) is allegedly slated for release in quarter 2 of 2006, featuring online play with up to six players. Some Live-esque features were also mentioned, including voice chat, worldwide leaderboards and the ability to upload replays to a central server. That news item was replaced with an identical page. On the Killzone front, the big news was that the game, known as Killzone: Liberation, will be an actual sequel to 2004's Killzone (PS2), and will feature a cooperative mode and additional downloadable content after release. It will also have the ability to let multiple PSP owners share the same UMD for local multiplayer, though to what extent was not clear. Unsurprisingly, that news item was removed as well.

It seems likely that there is at least some truth to these reports. Eurogamer is a respectable publication not prone to posting unsubstantiated rumors, and the information presented was certainly detailed. Sony's response was also uncharacteristically extreme; in these sorts of situations, publishers usually respond with a noncommittal "no comment." As always, take with a grain of salt, but don't be surprised if some or all of these rumors pan out.

Midway announced today that it is developing MLB SlugFest 2006 for PlayStation 2 and Xbox. This will be the first new SlugFest title since the 2004 entry. The press release revealed few details, but Midway chief marketing officer Steve Allison noted that "MLB SlugFest 2006 is the only adrenaline--style, officially MLB licensed baseball game on the market." What's odd is that it's on the market at all. You may recall that about a year ago, not long after the announcement of EA's NFL exclusivity deal, publisher Take-Two signed an agreement with the MLB Players Association to gain exclusive third party rights to games featuring MLB players. The took effect this year.

Shacknews has sent inquiries to Midway regarding the situation, but until word is returned, my assumption is that SlugFest 2006 is an officially licensed MLB product but does not actually feature real-world player names and identities. That said, the original Take-Two/MLBPA announcement seemed too restrictive even for that: "Take-Two will have exclusive rights among third-party publishers to develop and market simulation, arcade and manager-style baseball video games on the current and next-generation PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, personal computer and hand-held video game systems." Plus, today's short announcement makes reference to "updated team rosters." It's a mystery! Press release.

Eurogamer is a big contributor to the rumor mill today. Following up on reports that Nintendo's upcoming DS Lite will be hitting UK shelves on August 16, the site spoke with a "retail source" claiming that the redesigned portable will make its appearance significantly sooner than that. The August 16 prediction came from German retailers, suggesting the odd possibility that Nintendo may roll out the device on different dates throughout Europe.

DS Lite launches in Japan on March 2. Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime revealed in a recent Engadget interview that the company had planned to launch the device later, but the overwhelming demand and subsequent supply shortage for the original DS in Japan caused the company to tip its hand a bit early to assure consumers that new units were on the way. Given that situation, it's not too surprising that Fils-Aime stated in a recent interview on SpikeTV's Game Head that DS Lite would be coming to North America "much later." Of course, the Eurogamer story doesn't seem to match up to that. If Lite comes to Europe earlier than August--say, July--and the rollout mirrors the traditional Japan to North America to Europe order, that means we might expect to see it here in April or, more likely, May. On the one hand, retailers frequently claim to know more than they actually know. On the other hand, Reggie Fils-Aime frequently claims to know less than he actually knows. It's a mystery!

A plethora of media companies involved in Hollywood and video games--Midway, MTV Films, MTV Games, Paramount Pictures, and Tigon Studios--sent along an announcement of a new "action-entertainment property." This multi-format property is called The Wheelman; there's no relation to the Driver series, whose first game sported the subtitle "You Are the Wheelman." Midway is currently working on a game based on The Wheelman along with MTV Games and Diesel's gaming production company Tigon Studios. Today's announcement also revealed that MTV Films and Paramount Pictures are developing a tie-in movie. Rich Wilkes (XXX, Airheads) will be writing the script, and Vin Diesel will star and produce. There were few details given about the premise of the property itself, but the film "[stars] Vin Diesel as an expert wheelman who comes out of retirement to protect a woman from his past." Presumably, this refers to a woman with whom The Wheelman has some kind of history, rather than a woman who travels through time. Curses!

Diesel was also involved with The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay (Xbox, PC), the acclaimed video game tie-in to the less-acclaimed film The Chronicles of Riddick. Tigon served in a production capacity to the Starbreeze-developed title. In 2004, Tigon announced a deal with director Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects, X-Men, Superman Returns) to develop a game called Secret Service. Diesel claims The Wheelman is "the first integrated franchise being launched for both the gaming and film industries." This kind of strategy is one that has been proposed by designers such as Oddworld's Lorne Lanning and American McGee of Alice fame. McGee's theoretically upcoming Oz was conceived as a multimedia property, with deals signed for a game, a movie, a book, and a series of toys. However, with no news on Oz for quite some time now, it seems Diesel's "integrated franchise" might beat McGee's to market. - Press release.

It has come to the attention of The Internet that Ubisoft's official Rainbow Six website most likely contains a hint as to the future of the franchise. As Microsoft has taught us, your announcement just isn't worth announcing unless it's preceded by a countdown, and a countdown is just what we're getting out of Ubisoft. The countdown ends on March 6, upon which there will be "a MAJOR announcement." March 6, 2006 is also represented as 3/6/06, an appropriate date for an Xbox 360 game announcement. The "Hours" box of the countdown also lists the current count out of a total 360 hours, so it's looking pretty certain that we'll see some kind of Rainbow (3)6(0) announcement in a week and a half.

Yoot Saito's Odama (GCN), Vivarium's incredibly bizarre voice-commanded strategy/pinball game featuring giant hamburgers, was set to launch in the first quarter of 2006. However, publisher Nintendo sent along word today that, "to ensure sufficient delivery of the title with its packed-in microphone," the release date is now April 10, 2006. The microphone is used for simple commands such as "Advance," "Attack," "March left," and so on, to direct troops across a battlefield; the controller is used for the pinball flippers that manipulate the giant destructive steel ball which crushes both sides' soldiers. Designer Yoot Saito is also known for his work on Seaman (DC) and SimTower (PC).

Dark Horizons goes on the set with the cast of the upcoming Silent Hill film.

GameSpot has a Q&A for EA Canada's FIFA Street 2 (PS2, Xbox, GCN, DS, PSP, PC).